WASHINGTON: Marine General Tapped to be Panetta Adviser

Last month we told you that Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly has been nominated by the White House to become the next commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).

Now the Obama administration has named a successor to Kelly as the top military adviser to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. The nominee is also a Marine Corps three star general, Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the current commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command (MARCENT). The appointment is subject to Senate approval.

Meanwhile, the man Kelly is set to replace at SOUTHCOM, Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, was on Capitol Hill today (March 13) testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Fraser and Army Gen. Charles Jacoby Jr., the head of Northern Command (NORTHCOM) were questioned by committee members about the needs and posture of their respective commands as Congress considers the fiscal 2013 defense budget.

We’ll have a story about that hearing later today. Follow us on Twitter @4GWAR for brief updates until then.

If the name Waldhauser sounds familiar that’s because back in January, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James F. Amos designated Waldhauser to head the Corps’ investigation into that Internet video that appears to show four Marines urinating on Taliban corpses in Afghanistan. Responsibility for that investigation has since been turned over to Lt. Gen. Richard Millis, the head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.

In addition to MARCENT, which is based at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Waldhauser wears another hat as commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Waldhauser was a staff officer forward deployed with MARCENT in the first Gulf War, and commanded the 15th Marine Corps Expeditionary Unit in Iraq and Afghanistan. He later served as commanding general of the Marines’ Warfighting Laboratory, commander of the 1st Marine Division and chief of staff at U.S. Special Operations Command.